Design the tennis season

T

timnz

Legend
If you had the total power and control - how would you design the tennis season - dates, surfaces, tournaments etc.

My go:

December/January - No tennis

Early February - AO warmup tournaments - Auckland, Brisbane etc - on Medium Hard court (NOT Slow hardcourt)

Late February - AO on Medium Hard Court (NOT Slow hardcourt)

March - Indian Wells/Miami on Medium Hard Court (NOT Slowhardcourt)

April to Mid-May - Monte Carlo/Rome (ONLY 2 Masters 1000's on clay) and other small clay court tournaments

Mid-May-End of May - French Open

(4 week gap between end of FO and beginning of Wimbledon achieved by making FO 1 week earlier - making for 6-7 week grass court season)

Early June - Grass Warmup events including Masters 1000 Grass event on East Coast of US - 'US Grass Court Championship'

Late June - Wimbledon

July-Late Aug - US Open series - 2 Masters 1000 events - Canada/Cincinatti (played on Medium-Fast Hard court)

late Aug-Early Sept - US Open

Oct-mid Nov - Indoor series - 2 Masters 1000 events - indoor - medium-fast hard court (not slow)

Last Nov - WTF (medium-fast indoor hard - NOT medium Slow hard)

What about you? Design your own tennis year.
 
Not sure, but I wouldn't abolish slow HC. All your big tournie HC choices are either medium or medium-fast (so not even fast) which is an extremely narrow band of conditions. I guess you just feel slow and fast can be taken care of by clay and grass. You haven't specified for clay and grass actually; for clay, I get that it's slow, but current grass - is it really fast? You haven't suggested change for any clay or grass events, so basically you want the entire season played on medium or medium-fast including Wimbledon and the grass court season events, with clay making up the slow events.

I'd have some slow and fast HC events somewhere and make Wimbledon and most/all of the grasscourt events fast.
 
Nathaniel_Near said:
Not sure, but I wouldn't abolish slow HC. All your big tournie HC choices are either medium or medium-fast which is an extremely narrow band of conditions. I guess you just feel slow and fast can be taken care of by clay and grass.
Click to expand...
Would you have it as dominant as it is now? ie AO warm-ups slow hard, AO slow hard, Indian Wells - slow hard, Miami - VERY slow hard
 
Nathaniel_Near said:
Not sure, but I wouldn't abolish slow HC. All your big tournie HC choices are either medium or medium-fast (so not even fast) which is an extremely narrow band of conditions. I guess you just feel slow and fast can be taken care of by clay and grass. You haven't specified for clay and grass. For clay, I get that it's slow, but current grass - is it really fast? You haven't suggested change so basically you want the entire season played on medium or medium-fast including Wimbledon and the grass court season events.
Click to expand...
Yes - Slow court players get the clay court season. I should have added that Wimbledon and grass warm-up event on Medium Fast - NOT simply fast (as it was in the 1990's) or Medium (as it is now)
 
Lol sorry @timnz I kept updating my post as I thought more about it. I'll post it again here so we're up to date.

Not sure, but I wouldn't abolish slow HC. All your big tournie HC choices are either medium or medium-fast (so not even fast) which is an extremely narrow band of conditions. I guess you just feel slow and fast can be taken care of by clay and grass. You haven't specified for clay and grass actually; for clay, I get that it's slow, but current grass - is it really fast? You haven't suggested change for any clay or grass events, so basically you want the entire season played on medium or medium-fast including Wimbledon and the grass court season events, with clay making up the slow events.

I'd have some slow and fast HC events somewhere and make Wimbledon and most/all of the grasscourt events fast.
 
Nathaniel_Near said:
Not sure, but I wouldn't abolish slow HC. All your big tournie HC choices are either medium or medium-fast (so not even fast) which is an extremely narrow band of conditions. I guess you just feel slow and fast can be taken care of by clay and grass. You haven't specified for clay and grass actually; for clay, I get that it's slow, but current grass - is it really fast? You haven't suggested change for any clay or grass events, so basically you want the entire season played on medium or medium-fast including Wimbledon and the grass court season events, with clay making up the slow events.

I'd have some slow and fast HC events somewhere and make Wimbledon and most/all of the grasscourt events fast.
Click to expand...
Clay is slow and Grass is fast. Yes I agree.
 
timnz said:
Would you have it as dominant as it is now? ie AO warm-ups slow hard, AO slow hard, Indian Wells - slow hard, Miami - VERY slow hard
Click to expand...

Yeah I think what I'd do is something like the following with what it actually is currently in brackets (as far as I know):

AO warm ups to AO - slow-medium (is slow)

IW-Miami - medium (is slow)

Clay - generally slow (is slow)

Grass - legitimately fast (is medium-fast)

US Open warm up to US Open - medium-fast (is medium typically)

End of season stuff leading to the WTF - perhaps neutral medium or possibly something slow-medium (faster than the AO stuff...). Actually, the clay season is much longer than the grass season so make it medium (is slow-medium or medium)

This seems pretty balanced and varied I think. It would yield more various winners.

Oh and I agree with Dec+Jan no tennis, and a real off-season.

**

Made some edits, which would have the Slams played across more various conditions, so: slow-medium, slow, fast, medium-fast.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Probably like this-

January-March
2 M1000 Hard
Aussie Open

April-May
2 M1000 Clay
Roland Garros

June
1 M1000 Grass
Wimbledon

July-September
2 M1000 Hard
US Open

October-November
2M1000 Indoor Hard
WTF
 
January - March: Australian Hard Court Season(Slow-Medium Hard)
2 Masters warmups held in Australia
A bunch of other mickey mouse tournaments in between also in Australia
Australian Open
The month of February is just so random right now. I mean there are tournaments all over the world on all surfaces. We should just make all of it in Australia if that's where the first slam is gonna be held
April - June: Clay Season
2 Clay Masters(Get rid of that god awful circus Madrid)
Keep all the other lesser tournies
Roland Garros
June - Mid July: Grass Season(Actual fast grass)
Queens becomes a masters
4 weeks in between RG and Wimbledon for all tournies
Wimbledon
Mid-July - Mid-September: North American Hard Court Season(Medium-Fast Hard)
Keep it as it is, except speed up the courts more and get rid of those pointless clay tournaments that are played in between
Mid-September - November: Indoor Carpet Season(As fast as grass)
Bring back carpet and make all tournaments played during this time play on carpet
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Leave it the way it is. Tennis has one of the very best competitive schedules of all sports.
 
I would change Miami Masters surface to Grass and postpone it to June and delay Wimbledon by a week.
Grass Masters would be fun. A couple of tie-breaks, more upsets and new winners apart from Big 5.
 
Delusional Fed fans in this thread who believe:

A) Fed was not one of the biggest beneficiaries of surface slowdown and homogenization
B) Fed would dominate if the surfaces were sped up
 
Ok firstly I think there are a couple of issues in the current structure.

1. Too many slow courts, no fast courts.

2. Clay to grass is too big a transition.

3. Too many mandatory tournaments, in general (espescially for the top guys).

4. Slow surfaces in the earlier part of the year is not good, as it causes more wear and tear.

So here's what I propose.

Jan~ Feb
Winter break

March
2 masters on fast grass, europe (Halle queens)

April
WB

May
1 masters fast hard court in US (cincy)

June
Us open

July
Summer break

August
2 masters on clay, europe (Rome Madrid)

Sep
RG, slow.

October
1 masters on slow hard, Asia (shanghai)
AO, slow hard.

Nov
1 medium hard indoors in Canada.

Dec
WTF, medium hard indoors in US.
 
I will remove indoors and night tennis. Tennis looks fun in proper sunlight.
DULL DULL TENNIS

bnppm-4K-TV-EMF-big.jpg


121112045502-tennis7-horizontal-gallery.jpg
 
nowhereman said:
Disagree, I like nighttime tennis better.
_46304065_m_getty_766.jpg

I'd rather play here than in any tournament in the day.
Click to expand...

USO definitely agrees so they play day semis and finals. While AO plays night semis and finals which sucks. Anyway indoors slow is worst surface on the tour, much much worse than Miami.
 
jm1980 said:
Delusional Fed fans in this thread who believe:

A) Fed was not one of the biggest beneficiaries of surface slowdown and homogenization
B) Fed would dominate if the surfaces were sped up
Click to expand...
I created this thread and didn't mention Federer once in the opening entry.

My beef with the current overall dominance of slow surfaces is what it is doing to tennis. Skills are being lost (Volleying) and play becoming more predictable (most of court play is around the baseline - nothing wrong with being at the baseline - the problem is the lack of variety), hard to hit a winner - hence safe shots become more prevalent.

Rather than having a false dichotomy between almost everything slow or almost everything fast - how about variety? Some slow (clay), some medium (mostly outdoor hard), some medium fast (grass) some fast (mostly indoor).
 
timnz said:
I created this thread and didn't mention Federer once in the opening entry.

My beef with the current overall dominance of slow surfaces is what it is doing to tennis. Skills are being lost (Volleying) and play becoming more predictable (most of court play is around the baseline - nothing wrong with being at the baseline - the problem is the lack of variety).

Rather than having a false dichotomy between almost everything slow or almost everything fast - how about variety? Some slow (clay), some medium (mostly outdoor hard), some medium fast (grass) some fast (mostly indoor).
Click to expand...

I would love it.
 
gnana prakash said:
I would change Miami Masters surface to Grass and postpone it to June and delay Wimbledon by a week.
Grass Masters would be fun. A couple of tie-breaks, more upsets and new winners apart from Big 5.
Click to expand...
Why not just make Queens M1000 and drop that abomination Madrid from 1000 status? Although IW and Miami should be before AO. That way both HC slams have 2 M1000 on HC before.
 
1. moving the AO back into February is not going to happen. Australia isn't going to move it from their independence day weekend holiday

2. It makes no sense to have a HC masters (Miami) immediately following Indian Wells. I'd like to see IW move up a few weeks to Mid February and switch Miami to green clay (Rubico) to reestablish that distinct surface in a major event on tour and kick of the Spring clay run in an interesting way before the European masters.

3. There's no reason to pine for a longer grass season as it is really no longer used as a playable surface anywhere on the planet anymore. One month on the grass is already over representing the surface, the opposite of green clay which is dramatically under-represented. Also, there really isn't a facility that could handle a men's/women's masters event on grass
 
  • Like
Reactions: gn
mike danny said:
I would set IW and Miami to be AO warm-ups.

What's the point of playing masters that aren't warm-ups for anything?
Click to expand...
Right? That's exactly what I was thinking. It's so random to have to play a slam, take a month break, and then play two masters events that are in completely different places than the first slam and also don't lead up to or prepare the players for anything.
If Australia is going to be the first slam of the season, make the first part of the season focused on that area and that event.
 
only 2 events: dubai and cincy...rest are mickey mouse.

In reality: keep first half the same and make everything faster in the 2nd. WTF/Paris/Wimby are pathetically slow. No one cares about paris, but for gods sake make the WTF at least as fast as the old shanghai court if not the houston court. Make Wimby like the Halle court. Lightning fast slick first week, slows down but still very fast the last weekend. Also make either Halle or Queens a masters.

USO could speed up too to Cincy levels (won't play that fast cause sea level but still better).
 
metsman said:
only 2 events: dubai and cincy...rest are mickey mouse.

In reality: keep first half the same and make everything faster in the 2nd. WTF/Paris/Wimby are pathetically slow. No one cares about paris, but for gods sake make the WTF at least as fast as the old shanghai court if not the houston court. Make Wimby like the Halle court. Lightning fast slick first week, slows down but still very fast the last weekend. Also make either Halle or Queens a masters.

USO could speed up too to Cincy levels (won't play that fast cause sea level but still better).
Click to expand...
In reality, we should try your first suggestion.;)
But also throw in Basel and Halle as the third and fourth events. Don't make them Mickey Mouses.
 
More grass. Less hard court. Byes for top 10 players in the first TWO rounds of Slams. Whats the point in running the elite guys into the ground with garbage matches? Maybe a 5th slam in China (inevitable?)

More radical changes that could possibly draw a wider audience. Take 2-3 masters and remove singles play but keep the points in play - i.e. force the top players to all participate in doubles or mixed doubles. InB4 lots of balking at this - It would be a good change of pace from the current monotomy and draw more female viewers.
 
metsman said:
only 2 events: dubai and cincy...rest are mickey mouse.

In reality: keep first half the same and make everything faster in the 2nd. WTF/Paris/Wimby are pathetically slow. No one cares about paris, but for gods sake make the WTF at least as fast as the old shanghai court if not the houston court. Make Wimby like the Halle court. Lightning fast slick first week, slows down but still very fast the last weekend. Also make either Halle or Queens a masters.

USO could speed up too to Cincy levels (won't play that fast cause sea level but still better).
Click to expand...
Seriously speaking though, I agree with you completely that they should speed up the second half of the year. I did so in my design earlier in the thread. Not to sound arrogant, but I think there's a good balance in my schedule. You should check it out.
 
nowhereman said:
Seriously speaking though, I agree with you completely that they should speed up the second half of the year. I did so in my design earlier in the thread. Not to sound arrogant, but I think there's a good balance in my schedule. You should check it out.
Click to expand...
yeah your's is great. Carpet does need to be brought back but for now I'll just settle for fast indoor hard instead of whatever travesty of a surface WTF is played on these days.

I don't know if you can get rid of IW/Miami...those are two massive events...or move the AO up. Definitely I agree with your plan though
 
metsman said:
yeah your's is great. Carpet does need to be brought back but for now I'll just settle for fast indoor hard instead of whatever travesty of a surface WTF is played on these days.

I don't know if you can get rid of IW/Miami...those are two massive events...or move the AO up. Definitely I agree with your plan though
Click to expand...
Bringing back carpet won't be absolutely necessary I guess, but I guess I just prefer it to indoor hard, since majority of the season is already played on hard court. But if indoor hard were faster, then that would be fine too.
As for the IW/Miami double, I feel like they're kinda randomly placed in the calendar. They take place a month after the first slam and don't even lead up to anything. I think it's pointless to have the first slam in Australia and not have the first part of the season focused on Australia.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Speed up, speed up, speed up... I can only imagine what would happen here if they really make some courts faster (Wimbledon and WTF in particular) right after Federer retires.

KABOOM.gif
 
I'd mostly change courts speeds. Grass should be fast again, whilst USopen series, and USopen should be legit medium-fast as well. Also, post US open shouldn't be an indoor grindfest. Speed it up a little and vary between medium and fast.

For scheduling, I'd switch Indian wells/Miami witht the Aussie tune ups and Aussie open if its possible weather wise in the US.

January/early februari everything that is now after Aussie open but before indian wells
Februari/early march, Indian wells and Miami
March, Aussie tune ups and Aussie open

The rest can stay the same. Maybe shorten the schedule after the US open a bit, so players can rest more in the off season. I don't like having a masters 1000 on grass before Wimbledon. It would force all the players to play the same tune up, and I like Wimbledon better without having had the big guns play each other beforehand.

I wouldn't mess with the masters, maybe Madrid can just go away. But that's it. 3 masters in a short period of time is too much, in any place.
 
nachiket nolefam said:
I will remove indoors and night tennis. Tennis looks fun in proper sunlight.
Click to expand...

Personally, I love the environment they've created at the 02 for the YEC though. Aside from faster conditions, I think the lighting is really "flattering" - all of the imagery that comes out of there is extremely dramatic. Once upon a time, tennis began indoors :)
 
I definitely applaud the major tournaments putting roofs on their showpiece courts. I think RG is the only hold-out there. A ton of matches have been negatively impacted by rain and/or other weather. In my opinion, the inclement weather can be left to football. I don't think that's a variable tennis needs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mayonnaise
Construct the ideal ATP Tour
Replies
40
Views
4K
ibbi
ibbi
T
Identifying the present distinct tennis seasons
Replies
5
Views
593
timnz
T
T
Tennis year is now split into 2 halves
Replies
18
Views
2K
xFedal
xFedal
V
Would it be better to have grass season before clay season ?
Replies
15
Views
1K
MasterZeb
MasterZeb
harrpau7
My tennis calendar for 2012
Replies
0
Views
606
harrpau7
harrpau7
Back
Top